The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth kicked off their mall tour in L.A. on Saturday. Pics here!

-Lucia Peters

Wait, what? A Hunger Games mall tour? Aren’t mall tours a relic of the ‘80s, an event populated only by would-be “stars” and suburban tweens with nothing better to do with their time?

Apparently not, because it’s true: You may have caught the announcement a couple of weeks ago, but just in case you didn’t, The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth will be making appearances at malls in eight US cities over the next week to promote the movie. (P.S.: Word on the street is that author Suzanne Collins has seen the movie—and she loves it. Hoorah!) They kicked the tour off on Saturday in L.A., and from what we can see, it looks like it was a rip-roaring success! Want some photos? Here you go!

It looks fun, doesn’t it? It’s certainly a far cry from the ancient mall tours of times gone by; not only are they signing autographs, but more interestingly, it looks like they’re doing a panel as well.

Does this remind anyone else of the “victor’s tour” tradition from books? Just a little? Because if that’s what the movie’s marketing people were going for, then the idea is nothing short of genius. They may not have, of course—the existing fandom and the popularity of the stars are certainly enough of a draw on their own—but I like to think that the victor’s tour parallel occurred to at least one of the people who put the mall tour together.

In addition to Los Angeles, Jennifer and co. will be stopping by Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Minneapolis, and Seattle. Are you going? Let us know how it is!

Check out the full list of tour dates and details here, and catch more photos of the L.A. event here.